WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - AT&T Inc said on Monday it is confident a federal court reject the Justice Department’s expected challenge to its planned $85. 4 billion acquisition of Time Warner Inc.

The company’s general counsel, David McAtee, said the suit was “a radical and inexplicable departure from decades of antitrust precedent.” He added in a statement that the company saw “no legitimate reason for our merger to be treated differently” than other vertical mergers. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Dan Grebler)